TR- A 5 Day 5th Birthday Celebration- Day 3 is now finished

[Yakety76]

November 8-13, 2009
Our trip was a highly anticipated 5th birthday celebration for my darling daughter, Riley. My mom and dad were planning on joining us, so the whole family was going to Disneyland. Woo Hoo!

The cast of characters:
Me, Trudy: 34 year old stay at home mom. I love Disneyland. It was an important part of my childhood. We drove from Colorado every year to visit my grandparents for one week in June. These visits always included a one day trip to Disneyland. I have vivid memories of walking down Main Street at night and stopping for rock candy before driving back to my grandparents’ house. :lovestruc

DH, Bob: 33 year old in the agriculture business. His job requires a lot of travelling- including international. This has been a little difficult on us as a family, but the frequent flyer miles are great. My husband had a very deprived childhood. :sad2: His first trip to Disneyland was with me in 2008. He hadn’t even watched most of the Disney movies until he watched them with me- shocking. :eek: He has made up for it, though and now loves Disney and Disneyland almost as much as me.

DD, Riley: Turns 5 the first day of our trip!! :bday: 5 year old adventurous, fun loving girl. My Riley is ready for about anything. Right now she is going through a Nightmare Before Christmas phase. This was triggered by our Halloween 2008 trip. She was Sally for Halloween this year and loves singing along to the Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack in the car. Her favorite track is “Kidnap Mr. Sandy Claws” as performed by Korn. Something a little wrong with that maybe??

DS, Kaleb: 3 year old shy but Disney-loving boy. pirate: He worships his sister and goes along with what she wants most of the time. He dressed up as Barrel (one of the trick or treating kids from Nightmare Before Christmas) for Halloween. He loves the Buzz ride and seeing the sights of Disney. He is hit or miss with the characters and rides, so we just take his lead. He has a lot of fun on our Disney trips, but tends to want to do things his way.

DGma, Carla and DGpa, Jim: My parents. They moved from Colorado to Idaho when we had the kids. They are all about being near their grandkids and experiencing things with them. My mom came with us on our Halloween trip last year, but my dad has not been to Disneyland in about 20 years. My dad has bad feet that hurt him when he walks too much, so we tried to keep the walking under control.

For this trip, we decided to try out the HoJo based on reviews found here on the Dis. On our previous trips we had stayed at the DLH in a two-bedroom suite and a one-bedroom suite. We reserved two NQQ2 rooms at the HoJo for our group and requested that we have connecting rooms. I was a little nervous about the hotel being off-site, but we really liked it. The service was great. The beds were super comfortable. The walk was actually very nice. The only thing I didn’t love was the lobby. The DLH lobby is so magical that you start to feel the magic right when you pull up. The HoJo lobby was just a lobby, so no magic. However, for the price, we are willing to delay our magical start.

Thanks for coming along on our trip report with me. I have lots of pictures, some very cute happenings and even some celebrity sightings. Stay tuned for more. :cool2:

[letthembelittle]

I cant wait to read more, we were there at the same time!

[Yakety76]

Thanks for reading Letthembelittle. I will have to check out your TR.
I ran into a Dis family Tuesday in Toontown. Was it you perhaps?

[Yakety76]

We had tried to have a birthday party for Riley on Saturday. However, all her friends called in sick to the party. They had everything from Scarlet Fever to H1N1. We had become complete germ-a-phobes in the weeks prior to our trip and, thankfully, were illness free.
Our plan was to have the car loaded up and on the road to the airport by 7:00 am. My kids are early risers, so this was not a problem for them. Riley dressed in her special birthday shirt that I ordered off Disneystore.com. I got the idea for it from the Dissigns forum. It said “It is my 5th Birthday…Feel Free to Treat Me Special”. It was pretty cute.
We have a Ford Taurus with a third row for seating, so all six of us were able to squeeze into the one car. The bags were loaded and we were off. My mom was having a difficult time leaving our dogs. They have two dogs and we have two dogs. Our neighbor was taking care of our dogs and my parents hired a dog-sitter. It was hard to leave them behind, but they were in good hands.
Riley’s special treatment for her birthday started at the airport. The ladies checking us in noticed her shirt and started chatting her up. Riley was telling them all about her favorite things at Disneyland. One of the ladies ended up also working our gate and wished Riley a happy birthday and invited her to board early. She again had everyone wish Riley a happy birthday before we landed at LAX. Riley gets a little shy with special attention, but it was really nice how the stewardess kept going out of her way to wish Riley a happy birthday.
We arrived after a short flight and caught the Disneyland Express. It took us to the DLH which had the kids confused because we had told them we would not be staying at the “Mickey Hotel” this trip. After a short stop, we were off the HoJo. We checked in and left our bags. We also reminded the desk that we were expecting a grocery delivery and that we would like connecting rooms. They were super nice and said it would not be a problem.

So…Off we go into the park. We had been forewarned that the Christmas Parade filming was going to be going on Sunday and Monday so we were prepared for crowds. We got in line at a ticket window to exchange our vouchers that we purchased on Ares.com and to get Riley’s birthday gift card. The line was much shorter than I had anticipated and we were soon walking into Disneyland shortly after noon. Riley’s first purchase with her fun card was an autograph book.

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I think this picture is actually from later in the day because there is no crowd in front.

We walked down Main Street and noticed a mob of people in front of the castle. We also heard some really good music. And who do we see? Stevie Wonder! :cool2:
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Bob took a couple of pictures and then we were off to ride our first ride. Kaleb has been set on his first ride being Buzz. I was shocked to see that it was a walk-on at 12:30.
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Notice I had the high score. :cool1: I will leave out the fact that the ride got stalled at a great place for me to earn lots of points. Oops...I guess I didn't leave that out after all. :laughing:

We road Buzz and then Riley had to go on one of her most anticipated rides…Space Mountain. I rode Buzz again with Kaleb while Riley road Space with my parents and husband. Her reaction to Space was priceless. She gets off and starts doing fist pumps in the air and screaming “yes!” “Again, Again!” Space Mountain ended up being her favorite ride this trip. :banana:

We decide it is time to head over to NOS and ride Pirates. My favorite and my dad’s favorite- although he had not yet seen it with the Captain Jack changes.
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We all loved it. We were really excited to float through the beginning because we had reservations at Blue Bayou for lunch tomorrow. :lovestruc

Kaleb and I got in about 5 rides on Pooh while Riley and my parents rode Splash. http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg255/yakety76_photos/P1000793.jpg
I think Bob was collecting fastpasses. Kaleb was a little hungry, so we went to Hungry Bear and got some nuggets and watched the Mark Twain and the canoes. What a great place to relax.


More of day 1 coming soon....

[letthembelittle]

You did such a better job of taking pictures then I did!! And nope it wasnt us, I was so sick before we left that I didnt get a chance to go to Home Depot! I love that your dd liked Space Mountain!! What a brave girl!!

[wannagoback]

Can't wait to hear more about your trip! We leave in three week and will be celebrating DD's 5th b-day while there, and also have a DD3. I've seen an "it's my birthday, feel free to treat me like a princess" DISign, I'd love to see the shirt you got for your DD. I also want to make a shirt for DD3 that says "it's my sister's birthday, but feel free to treat me like a princess too"

[AZBeth]

I can't wait to read your report... My family and I just returned from DLR on Tuesday and we had a great time... I am hoping to post some sort of report soon.

[Yakety76]

You did such a better job of taking pictures then I did!! And nope it wasnt us, I was so sick before we left that I didnt get a chance to go to Home Depot! I love that your dd liked Space Mountain!! What a brave girl!!

My report actually doesn't have as many pictures as I was planning on using because my camera was lost/stolen while we were at DCA. I am still really bummed about it. Although my dad and husband both took pictures and we are getting the photopass CD, I still want the pictures that I took. My goal for this trip was to take more time to notice the little details and now all those pictures are gone. Nothing I can do about it, but it still makes me upset :sad1:

She loved all the roller coasters. She was definitely a thrill seeker this trip.

Can't wait to hear more about your trip! We leave in three week and will be celebrating DD's 5th b-day while there, and also have a DD3. I've seen an "it's my birthday, feel free to treat me like a princess" DISign, I'd love to see the shirt you got for your DD. I also want to make a shirt for DD3 that says "it's my sister's birthday, but feel free to treat me like a princess too"

I love the idea of a shirt for your 3 year old. I thought about getting Kaleb one, but he really doesn't like to be singled out.
I think I got most of my ideas from Natalie's page. She wasn't making any new images at the time, so I just borrowed her wording and found an image I liked on the Disney Store custom t-shirt site. It was really easy to do on there although they don't have the selection of images that the DISign forum has.
I don't know if we got a good picture of the shirt, but I will take one and upload it soon.

Thanks for reading!! I love sharing my trips because it is a fun way to keep the vacation going. Please leave comments, suggestions or questions. That is part of the fun of doing a trip report.

[Yakety76]

Thanks for reading AZbeth. Glad you had a great vacation. Cannot wait to read about your trip!!

[Yakety76]

Sorry for the delay to anyone who is reading. The holidays and holiday shopping are taking up some of my spare time.

And now on with the trip. When last we met, Riley was braving Splash Mountain and Kaleb and I were trying to set a record for the most times on Pooh in one day. :rotfl:
Riley was now done with her trip through the briar patch and wanting to ride Pooh. We met up and did yet another ride on Pooh. I think Kaleb and I had the heffalumps and woozles song stuck in our heads the rest of the trip. :laughing:

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We make our way back to Main Street for the Celebrate Parade. We ask quite a few CMs if the status of the parade has changed because of the Christmas filming. We get a different answer from every CM we ask. We decide to stake out a spot, just in case it is still on. While waiting, my mom and I grab some treats from the Blue Ribbon Bakery: a Mickey head cookie for the kids to share, a pumpkin muffin for Bob and a kid’s turkey wrap for my mom. The pictures of these yummy treats are on my missing camera…sorry, no food porn to see :sad2:. Bob liked the pumpkin muffin much better than the pumpkin cupcakes. I found the Mickey head cookie to be dry and pretty tasteless, but the kids enjoyed it.

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Papa and Kaleb waiting for the parade.

While eating our treats, they announce that the parade will start in 15 minutes. It was just a little behind its 3:30 start time- if I remember correctly. We enjoyed the parade. Riley was chosen to dance and do the conga line. She didn’t participate in the dancing, but I think she liked being chosen. My dad especially liked this parade. It was one of his favorite things about the trip. He actually saw it a couple of more times because he enjoyed it so much. I found it to be fun, but I did miss having a “real” parade.

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Riley refusing to join the CM in doing the twist.

After the parade we make our way back to NOS. Next stop is Haunted Mansion. Riley is going through a Nightmare Before Christmas phase brought on by our trip to Disney during Halloween last year, so she has been looking forward to this ride. Kaleb was too scared to go on this ride our last trip, but he has said he wants to go on it this trip. I have my doubts, but we give it a go. We wind our way into the stretching room. Kaleb is in my arms and holding tight. I warn him about the big Jack on the ceiling and he does just fine. He actually enjoyed the ride itself. He liked Lock, Shock and Barrel popping up at the end. My favorite part was the ballroom scene. The gingerbread was a carousel this year. It smelled and looked so yummy.

Now we have to go back to Main Street for our dinner P.S. time at Carnation Café. They got us right in which was good as we were all pretty hungry. I ordered the Café Chef Salad with the raspberry vinaigrette. I split this with the kids. My mom and Bob both ordered half a turkey sandwich with a cup of the loaded baked potato soup. My dad ordered a full turkey sandwich. Bob was in heaven eating the soup. He was very thankful to me for telling him to order it based on reviews I had read on the Dis. The kids and I enjoyed our salad very much. It was a very big salad and plenty of food for the three of us. We also got the kids the light up souvenir cups. Our waiter brought out a cup of vanilla ice cream covered in whipped cream and sprinkles for Riley. Riley was nice enough to share with Kaleb.

After a very yummy dinner, it was time for me to go to HoJo with Kaleb. It is time for the little guy to go to bed. Riley gets a very special birthday present. She is allowed to stay up past bedtime! She was so excited. My parents, Bob and Riley headed off to ride Riley’s new favorite ride- Space Mountain. They then rode Star Tours. She enjoyed this too although she was disappointed there were no Ewoks. They then went to Fantasyland and did Dumbo and the Tea Cups. It was after 7:00 at this point, so they took their blanket to stake out a spot for Fantasmic! They were one row back from the rail. While waiting, they took turns riding Haunted Mansion and Pirates.

Fantasmic hasn’t been showing on our previous trips, so this was Bob’s first chance to see it. He loved it. Riley enjoyed it, but it spooked her a little. My dad said he enjoyed the Celebrate parade more. They stayed and watched the fireworks from their spots and then Bob rushed Riley to the hotel to get her to bed. My parent’s stayed and rode Indy and then made their way back to the hotel.


And that is the end of day 1. It was a very long day, but we had a great time. We had been worried about the Christmas parade filming, but the crowds were not bad at all.

[Yakety76]

The kids slept until the reasonable time of 7:00 or so. We got dressed and headed out.

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Disneyland didn’t open until 10:00 so we went to wander the Grand California lobby and had breakfast at Whitewater Snacks. We got two breakfast burritos for us to share. The kids were already having a bit of a hard time with sitting still, so Bob took them out by the pool. The grounds were beautiful and I am glad we walked through. After breakfast, we made our way back to the gates to line up.

We took a little while with breakfast and were not near the front of the line. I stopped to get a stroller for Riley using my Disney Visa. I miss the free stroller, but $7 wasn’t a bad deal. While walking towards Main Street we met up with some characters. The kids had to stop and take pictures and autographs.

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There was a voice coming through letting everyone know they were taping for the Christmas parade and that Ryan Seacrest was going to be there.

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We left the crowds already staking their spots out for this and made our way towards rope drop. Bob cut through the shops so that he could get fastpasses for Space Mountain. The rest of us waited for the rope drop and then headed for Peter Pan. We were a little ways back in the crowd, so Bob was actually able to join up with us and ride Peter Pan. I pointed out the Evil Queen in the window of Sleeping Beauty’s Castle. Kaleb made it his mission to tell us all every time she reappeared. Again, the pictures are on my missing camera.

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After Peter Pan, we rode Dumbo and Snow White. We had fun taking turns touching the apple in front of Snow White. Kaleb made it inside the building and saw the dungeon. He quickly backed out and Grandma took him to do other things. I later found out she told him Pinocchio and Mr. Toad were not scary and took him on them. Yeah, I don’t think he will be trusting her judgment for awhile as he found them both pretty scary :laughing:. Riley braved her way through Snow White. After the ride, she told me that it is a daddy and mommy ride. Snow White is still a little too scary, even for my thrill seeking Riley.
While Mom and Kaleb finished up their rides, Bob and Riley tried their hand at pulling the sword from the stone. Neither of them is King of all England.

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Riley and I took a couple of spins on the carrousel. Riley was able to ride Jingles. She was pretty excited about this…as was I. A ride on the Tea Cups concluded our stay in Fantasyland.

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We had a P.S. at the Blue Bayou, so we made our way towards NOS. After a short wait, we were shown to our table. I didn’t ask for water side because there were 6 of us and I didn’t want to wait that long with the kids. We were one row back from the water- which was really quite nice. Blue Bayou was a bit much for my kids. They didn’t like how dark it was. I was very thankful to a table full of ladies who were having a very good time. They were laughing and chatting and having a nice lunch together. Their noise helped my kids relax a little bit- the hushed atmosphere that we started with was a little too quiet for my kiddos.
We all enjoyed our lunch. My mom and I split the chicken and salad. The kids split the children’s chicken. Bob had the gumbo soup and jambalaya. My dad made the best choice of entrees by choosing the beef short ribs. These were soooo good. He also had the gumbo. Both he and Bob really enjoyed the soup. Bob also ordered the crème brulee. It was just one serving of vanilla, but it was really yummy. Riley was given a bowl of chocolate mousse. She and Kaleb shared that. I enjoyed the food, but I don’t think we will be returning until the kids are older. It was a stressful lunch for me. Kaleb really didn’t like how dark it was. I actually had to engage in some questionable parenting tactics and bribe him with a Tigger Tail to stay and let me finish my lunch.

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After lunch we went to get Kaleb his Tigger Tail and rode Pooh a couple of more times.

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Riley, Bob and I took a spin through the Briar patch and then my dad, the kids and I explored Tarzan’s Tree house.

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My mom and Bob went on Indy. The kids have never been through the tree house before and enjoyed it. Today was supposed to be the warmest day of the week, so my mom, the kids and I headed back to HoJo to play in Castaway Cove. My dad and Bob headed over to DCA to ride rides and take pictures. On our way out we ran into a ton of characters. It was right around 3:00 in front of the Mickey head. We saw Cruella, Rafiki, Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Chip and Dale. Riley took a picture with Cruella and then waited in line to take one with Rafiki before changing her mind. A break was needed by all at this point, so we quickly made our way to the hotel.

I will update with the photopass pictures as soon as I get my CD.

I do not have pictures of the kids playing in Castaway Cove, but it was so much fun. It was in the high 70s, so it was much too cold for swimming. That didn’t stop the kids. They played for about an hour and a half and had a blast. The water area was busy with kids our whole stay- even when it was dark and therefore much cooler. The Garden Pool also always had swimmers. Our room overlooked the Garden Pool and we could hear people swimming well into the night every night. So come prepared with swim suits no matter the weather.

Here are some pictures of my dad and Bob playing at DCA.
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Bob forgot about the single rider line, so they waited about 30 minutes. Not too bad, though.

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Dad refused to do this one.

[laura&fam]

Thanks for reading Letthembelittle. I will have to check out your TR.
I ran into a Dis family Tuesday in Toontown. Was it you perhaps?

I think that was us. It was outside Goofy's house. You (or whoever it was) was the only DIS person we saw on our trip, I was expecting to see more.

Your DS 3 reminds me of my DS 5, very similar personality only he was completely miss with the characters, wouldn't go near them. Your review of BB made me glad we decided to skip it. I love BB but I just didn't think it would work for my family this year. DD9 and I were disappointed, but I think it was the right choice.

I haven't finished reading your TR but I'm looking forward to reading the rest.

And so sorry about your camera :sad1:

[Yakety76]

I think that was us. It was outside Goofy's house. You (or whoever it was) was the only DIS person we saw on our trip, I was expecting to see more.

Your DS 3 reminds me of my DS 5, very similar personality only he was completely miss with the characters, wouldn't go near them. Your review of BB made me glad we decided to skip it. I love BB but I just didn't think it would work for my family this year. DD9 and I were disappointed, but I think it was the right choice.

I haven't finished reading your TR but I'm looking forward to reading the rest.

And so sorry about your camera :sad1:

I didn't see any other lime green Mickey heads on our trip either. I don't have one on any of our bags- it is always on my too do list, but I have never managed to actually do it yet :laughing:.

The only reason we actually planned on eating at BB was because my dad specifically asked to eat there when I asked what he would like to do/see at Disney. He had memories of wanting to eat there when we would go when I was a kid, but they could never afford it. I really wanted him to have this experience.
My kids behaved fine, but it was still really stressful to me. I am still glad we took my dad since it was something he has always wanted to do, though. :goodvibes

[Yakety76]

The guys joined us back at the hotel and we had a makeshift dinner made up of some of the things we ordered from Von’s. We had planned on going to Mimi’s, but I didn’t feel like getting the kids dressed for dinner. The kids were quite happy with their peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, veggies and fruit. Ordering from Von’s was such an easy thing to do. The hotel was great about accepting the order and even putting it away for us. When we stayed at DLH we had to be there ourselves to accept the order, so this was so nice. We ordered coffee creamer, carrot sticks, veggie packs, apples, bananas, yogurt, peanut butter, jelly, wheat bread, and two cases of water. We used up all the food and ended up having to buy more bread and creamer in the HoJo gift shop. I was surprised to find the gift shop reasonably priced.

After our dinner Bob told my mom and I to go have a girls’ night at Disney. I was really not up for this as I was so tired and ready to go to bed. Bob was pretty insistent that he could put the kids to bed by himself (he has never even done this at home :confused3). Therefore, Mom and I made our way to DCA to ride a couple of rides before it closed at 6:00. Once I got out, I woke up a little and had a fun time with my mom. Our first ride was Tower of Terror. There was a bit of a wait, even with fastpasses. It was so worth it though. This was my first time riding it-ever. I LOVED it. What a fun ride. It did leave me a little nervous about Riley riding it though.

DCA was just about 5 minutes from closing, so we hustled over to Soarin’ and used our fastpasses to ride. We were boarded right away and enjoyed our trip. This is a favorite of ours.

We hopped on over to Disneyland. The lines to get in were surprisingly short. Our first stop was Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. We didn’t have fastpasses for this, but the wait was only about 15 minutes. I haven’t been on this roller coaster since I was a kid. My mom was so funny while we were riding it. She was giggling like a little girl the whole time. My mom is a huge roller coaster fan.

We wandered through the back walkway to Fantasyland. I pointed out the smoking area in case my mom needed a cigarette and was told that she had quit two months ago. What a nice surprise that was. My mom is a super long time smoker and she always had an excuse for why she couldn’t quit. I am so proud of her. I do wish she had told us so that we could support her, but she probably didn’t want the added pressure of us knowing.

Since we were in Fantasyland, we decided to do the castle walkthrough. How fun that was. I remember it being little figures before. We enjoyed it and were glad we did it without the kids as it would have been too much for Kaleb.

We decided to make our last ride of the night Indy. We got in line with our fastpasses. I don’t know what was going on, but the wait was horrible. It was at least a 30 minute wait-even with fastpasses. I was really tired, so this annoyed me more than it should have. We did enjoy the ride, but I was Done by then so we headed back to the hotel. We stopped at McDonald’s and got a couple of cheeseburgers for the guys on our way back. We told them about our night and we all crashed.

[laura&fam]

We decided to make our last ride of the night Indy. We got in line with our fastpasses. I don’t know what was going on, but the wait was horrible. It was at least a 30 minute wait-even with fastpasses. I was really tired, so this annoyed me more than it should have. We did enjoy the ride, but I was Done by then so we headed back to the hotel. We stopped at McDonald’s and got a couple of cheeseburgers for the guys on our way back. We told them about our night and we all crashed.

The first time I rode Indy it was with a fastpass and the wait time, with the fastpass, seemed to match the time posted for the stand by line. I was so turned off about how long I had to wait I have only ever riden it one other time, as single rider. That is the only way I would ride it now. I wonder if a super long wait with a fastpass is common :confused3

[prettyprincessbelle]

Riley is a champ for riding and loving all the big rides! I was terrified of everything (even Pirates!) at that age. I remember crying while we were riding BTMRR.

Congrats to your Mom for quitting smoking! :thumbsup2

[Yakety76]

[B]PrettyPrincessBelle[/B, Thanks for reading. Riley is fearless. Even the rides that spook her don't really scare her. She just says she doesn't want to ride them again that they are mommy and daddy rides. The list of rides she won't ride is very short though: Matterhorn, Roger Rabbit, and Snow White. I think Bob took her on the Matterhorn when she was too young, though. If she would give it another chance, I bet she would love it.
Kaleb on the other hand is my cautious child. The kid loves pirates, but he would only ride the pirate ride once. He says the cave part is too scary. He is the one who wasn't ready to come home at the end of our trip, though. He may not love all the rides or the characters, but he loves Disneyland :cloud9:

[Yakety76]

Sorry to anyone reading about the delay. I am having a hard time finding time to post. On the good side, I just received my photopass CD yesterday. :thumbsup2 I was really excited about this because I was able to finish my parents' Christmas present. I used some of my Disney Movie Rewards points at Snapfish and made a scrapbook of our trip for my parents. With the credit from the Rewards points, it only cost me $15 :yay:

I love the Disney Movie Rewards. If you haven't signed up, it is so worth it. We have used them to get a lithograph from the Pirates movie for Kaleb's room. I also used them for two different scrapbooks from Snapfish. Right now, you can also use your points for stuff for Toys for Tots. I donated a DVD and plush- just by using my points. I sound like a commercial :laughing: I just wanted to share in case there was someone out there who hadn't set up an account yet. It is worth the time to do it.

[Yakety76]

The first time I rode Indy it was with a fastpass and the wait time, with the fastpass, seemed to match the time posted for the stand by line. I was so turned off about how long I had to wait I have only ever riden it one other time, as single rider. That is the only way I would ride it now. I wonder if a super long wait with a fastpass is common :confused3

I have only been on Indy 3 times- all with fastpasses. This is the only time I have had a bad wait. I don't know what the deal was.
I had my list of single rider rides, but I forgot to check it. I don't get to ride the big kid rides that often, so I don't have the list memorized. :laughing:

[Yakety76]

We were in line before 8:30 to take advantage of our Early Entry day. As soon as our tickets were scanned, Bob went to get a stroller while the rest of us headed for Peter Pan. We were thrilled to see that a gigantic Christmas tree had taken the place of the stage from yesterday.

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First stop was Fantasyland and Peter Pan. We also did Dumbo, Alice and the Tea Cups. I finally figured out a way that I can ride the Tea Cups. I rode with Riley and I let her be in charge of spinning the cup. Well, she cannot spin it too fast, so it was a perfect ride for me. My dad made the mistake of riding with Bob and Kaleb. Bob’s mission was to spin as fast as he could. Kaleb couldn’t even walk off the ride. Dad was pretty sick for most of the day. Poor Guy.:sick: :rotfl:
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I wanted my parents to experience the Finding Nemo Sub ride, so I followed some advice I had read about on the DIS and we headed over there around 9:40. Well, my parents didn’t want to ride it because they didn’t enjoy the old sub ride. My kids talked my dad into coming along, but my mom headed off for a couple of rides on Space Mountain. We waited around 20 minutes and boarded our sub. The kids really enjoyed the ride and I think my dad liked it.

It was a little after 10:00 by this point and the group split up once again. I wanted to go to Princess Fantasy Faire. The princesses were scheduled to arrive at 10:30. Riley had said she would come with me. She went through a very short princess phase but quickly got over it. I wanted to try to see some new princesses as we have always seen the same ones on our trips. My mom saved a spot in line for us, and Riley and I went to put on her Jasmine costume. The line for this was really slow moving. We weren’t too far back, but we didn’t even get in to see the princesses until after 11:00. Well, my whole purpose in waiting in this long line was to try to see any princess besides Cinderella, Snow White or Aurora. Guess who was waiting for us? Yep… Cinderella, Snow White and Aurora. The exact same princesses we saw last year at the Fantasy Faire. :rolleyes1
Riley took her pictures and off we went. I know there is no guarantee about who is going to be there, but to have all the same princesses again was such a bummer to me. Riley could have cared less as she didn’t really even want to do it in the first place.:laughing:

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Up next...Toon Town.
If anyone is reading along with me, feel free to leave a comment or two :laughing:.

[prettyprincessbelle]

Thanks for reading. Riley is fearless. Even the rides that spook her don't really scare her. She just says she doesn't want to ride them again that they are mommy and daddy rides. The list of rides she won't ride is very short though: Matterhorn, Roger Rabbit, and Snow White. I think Bob took her on the Matterhorn when she was too young, though. If she would give it another chance, I bet she would love it.
Kaleb on the other hand is my cautious child. The kid loves pirates, but he would only ride the pirate ride once. He says the cave part is too scary. He is the one who wasn't ready to come home at the end of our trip, though. He may not love all the rides or the characters, but he loves Disneyland :cloud9:

I think the Snow White is kind of spooky too. I can see how it isn't the best ride for younger kids.

That's so sweet about Kaleb. At least he loves Disneyland and that's what counts! :goodvibes

Bleh about the same princesses. How boring to see the same three. Especially when they do have other princesses!

[letthembelittle]

I wish there was a way to know which princesses you were going to see, my dd would have been much happier to meet your set then Ariel and Mulan that were there when we went.

[laura&fam]

I love your photo of the main street Christmas tree. It really gives a good idea of how huge that tree really is.

[Yakety76]

I think the Snow White is kind of spooky too. I can see how it isn't the best ride for younger kids.

That's so sweet about Kaleb. At least he loves Disneyland and that's what counts! :goodvibes

Bleh about the same princesses. How boring to see the same three. Especially when they do have other princesses!

I agree that Snow White is probably too spooky for young kids. However, Riley was on a mission to ride every ride that she was tall enough for. Her willingness to try anything is something I admire, so we decided to let her give it a go. She probably won't want to ride it again until she is much older, but at least she can say she rode it. :eek:

I was so bummed about the princesses. I have never seen any other princess than those three and Jasmine. I didn't even care which one. Oh, well. We had fun with it and even had Cinderella teach us a princess pose. Riley was really into that...as you can see from the photo. :rotfl:

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[Yakety76]

I wish there was a way to know which princesses you were going to see, my dd would have been much happier to meet your set then Ariel and Mulan that were there when we went.

I would have loved to have seen Ariel or Mulan. We should just trade pictures and photoshop our faces in. :rotfl:
I too wish there were some schedule so you could at least try to see the princess you want to.

I love your photo of the main street Christmas tree. It really gives a good idea of how huge that tree really is.


Thank you. :goodvibes It was amazing to me how big that thing was. And the size of the decorations.

[Yakety76]

Day 3 continues...After visiting the princesses, we made our way to Toon Town to meet up with the boys.


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Small World was getting its overlay while we were there, so we weren't able to go on it. My kids and husband have still not been on this one. It always seems to be closed when we go.

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The plan had been to meet the guys in Toon Town for the 11:00 opening. We were really running late. By the time we got there at around 11:30, the boys had already met Mickey and Minnie and rode Gadgets Go Coaster a couple of times. It was really hot and crowded in Toon Town today. I waited in line to meet Minnie with Riley while my mom rode Roger Rabbit. Riley and I both really dislike this ride, so we let her ride by herself. After meeting Minnie we met the guys at Gadgets Go Coaster. Kaleb loves this roller coaster. We were lucky enough to get in the front seat. Riding with him is so fun. He yells and keeps his hands up the whole time.
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When we exited the ride, I noticed a lime green Mickey head in front of me. I of course had to say “Hello”. Since returning, I have learned that it was Laura&Fam. I have never noticed a LGMH before, so that was fun. :thumbsup2

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We were all hot and worn out so we made our way to Rancho for some lunch. Riley notices Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and asks if she can ride it. I tell my parents to go ahead and take her as the line is short and we will grab lunch and a table. Bob, Kaleb and I headed on to Rancho and got the taco salad, burrito and two kids’ burritos. My parents came back with Riley who was all aglow from her first ride on BTMRR. She is a roller coaster fanatic now. :yay::woohoo:

After an unimpressive lunch, Riley and Bob went to ride BTMRR and Kaleb and my parents went to the shooting gallery in Frontierland. I stayed and cleaned up our mess from lunch. We really enjoyed our lunch at Rancho last year, but I found it kind of bleh this year. Not sure if I was just expecting too much or if the recipes have changed as we ordered the exact same thing as we did the previous year.:confused:

While the girls and I were visiting with the princesses, Bob was supposed to be taking Kaleb on Autopia. Well he claims the line was too long, so they rode Buzz and Astro Orbiters a few times each. This would usually have been okay, but I had promised Kaleb he would be able to drive the car today. So after Riley finished her spin on the wildest railroad, we headed over to Tomorrowland. Kaleb wanted to ride with Bob and Riley wanted to ride with my mom. I had no desire to do this ride without a child on board, so my dad and I decided to sit this one out. Autopia is great fun for a preschooler, but not so much for me.:rolleyes:

Dad and I kind of wandered for a couple of minutes until I remembered that I wanted to see Honey, I Shrunk the Audience this trip. We headed over and waited for the next show. This does seem like a dated show, but we enjoyed ourselves. Dad especially enjoyed that I had one of the “special” seats. For those of you who have seen the show, you know what I am talking about. I won’t ruin the surprise for those of you who haven’t. I was screaming every couple of minutes and there were quite a few people laughing at me.

Well, now was the part of the day that I had really been looking forward to…Jedi Training Academy. The kids and I had watched a Youtube video of this a couple of times in preparation for our trip. I wanted them to actually have an idea about who Darth Vadar and Darth Maul were so they wouldn’t be too intimidated. Kaleb and I secured our front row spots while Riley went on Space Mountain yet again. We should have kept count of how many times she did this ride.
Once Riley returned, I pulled out our handy DISigns Jedi Training signs. A couple of kids near us instructed me that you don’t need a sign to get picked. I politely thanked them and made sure our three signs were displayed just so. I had made three signs in case Kaleb wanted to attempt to get chosen. He had no desire to do it, so all the signs were focused on Riley. We also put her birthday button back on her for a little extra help.

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After a short wait, the Jedi Master came out and gave his instructions to the hopefuls and then began the choosing process. I was feeling a little nervous because there were a lot of kids there. Well, I needn’t have worried. Riley was chosen as “the girl with the handcrafted signs”. Riley put on her robe and found her spot- right by the Jedi Master. Riley intently listened to all the directions. She was a little slow at following them though. The Jedi Master told her “Keep doing your own thing, Princess. It is working for you.” :rotfl:

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After the arduous training process, who should appear but Storm Troopers. They were armed and all the young trainees quickly gathered together behind the Masters. Darth Vadar and Darth Maul made their appearance and challenged the young ones.
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They were not taking this. They were ready. Riley patiently waited her turn to battle Darth Vadar. Her turn was finally up and she was brave in the face of such an enemy. She did forget a couple of her moves, but still, she was victorious.

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This was great fun and I cannot believe this was our first time witnessing the Jedi Training Academy. It would be fun to watch whether you had kids or not.

[Yakety76]

After the challenge of battling Darth Vadar, the kids were ready for some play time. We headed over to DCA to spend some time in the Redwood Creek area. We had never been on our previous visits, but I had read some trip reports that had convinced me it was a must do for us this trip.

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On the way we got some pictures taken in front of the castle and the tree. I think this one is going to be our Christmas card this year.

We absolutely loved the Redwood Creek area. The kids (and I) had a great time climbing along the netting and exploring everything. It is a great place to bring the kids to let them run around. I thought it was more for older kids because of the height requirements, but that isn't the case. Anybody who likes to run and climb will enjoy it.

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Bob, Riley and I left my parents and Kaleb to their play and went to try out Grizzly River Rapids. We had our $1 ponchos ready as the sun was starting to go down and it was getting a little chilly out. Everyone on our raft got really wet except for us. I was grateful to the ponchos. As we were exiting our raft, the next people in line begged our used ponchos off of us. It was a fun ride, but I think I was a little too focused on keeping Riley dry. Next time I want to try it when the sun is out, so that I don’t mind getting a little wet.

We went back to Redwood Creek to pick up the rest of the family. Dad, Kaleb and I decided it was time for some ice cream while Mom, Bob and Riley rode Soarin’. This was Riley’s favorite ride last year, but it lost out big time to ToT and Space this trip. She still enjoyed it. I am looking forward to when Kaleb can ride it. He will love it. After Soarin’ everyone joined us at the Burr Bank Ice Cream stand. Usually we share sweet treats, but we all had to have our own sundae here. They were mighty tasty.

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With our bellies filled with yummy treats, we made our way to save spots for the Pixar Parade. This was a favorite of ours on our last trip, so we were looking forward to it. Our camera doesn’t take good night shots, but the parade was a lot of fun. I do like how they didn’t spray the water since it had gotten chilly out.

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Bob and I headed out with the kids after the parade while Mom and Dad stayed and had some fun. They mostly did some shopping for me and the kids at the World of Disney store. They got me the Disneyland license plate cover and the kids Jack Skellington shirts. Unfortunately, Riley’s shirt was a youth size and not a child’s size so we had to return it. It is really hard to find young girls’ shirts that aren’t princess at Disney. :confused3 She really wants a Sally shirt. Right now she makes do with wearing a women’s XS Sally shirt as a nightgown.

They also had to see the Celebrate parade again. My dad loved that parade.
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That is the end of our third day. Stay tuned for day four- Veteran's Day. Will we be able to deal with the crowds??

[deejdigsdis]

You were there the week before us. Looks like we had the same Jedi Master. He used that same "Keep doing what you're doing...it's working for you" line during our training. So funny! Good choice for the family Christmas card pic!

[laura&fam]

Great photos again, especially of Toon Town.

We skipped the parade, my youngest had a really hard time sitting and we chose to save up the sitting for Fantasmic! and the fireworks. What is that last photo of? My best description would be cave women in high heels, but I'm completely drawing a blank on any Disney characters remotely close to them.

[Yakety76]

You were there the week before us. Looks like we had the same Jedi Master. He used that same "Keep doing what you're doing...it's working for you" line during our training. So funny! Good choice for the family Christmas card pic!

Thanks for reading along.
I think he used the line in the youtube videos we saw too. It still made a fun memory for us as Riley really did look she was off in her own training camp.

I really like how the cards turned out. The kids are smiling the best, but it still is pretty cute- I think anyway. It is always so hard to get a good family picture.

Great photos again, especially of Toon Town.

We skipped the parade, my youngest had a really hard time sitting and we chose to save up the sitting for Fantasmic! and the fireworks. What is that last photo of? My best description would be cave women in high heels, but I'm completely drawing a blank on any Disney characters remotely close to them.


Bob really enjoyed taking pictures in Toon Town. The do a fun job of decorating there.
The cave woman :lmao: is from the Celebrate parade. They have a couple of floats with characters and the dancers are inbetween. They bring the kids out to dance and do a conga line. It is fun, but I really missed the Parade of Dreams. We do love the Pixar Parade though. That one is so much fun.

[Sherry E]

You guys are the cutest family! I still remember a PhotoPass picture you posted last year (from Halloweentime, I think?) of you and Riley, where she was looking at you like, "Mom, what is wrong with you"!!! Her expression was priceless. I think it was one of those Tinkerbell-in-the-hand poses, if I recall, possibly by the Partners statue (I am trying to visualize it).

I love your pictures! They are all amazing. I love seeing pictures of ToonTown - especially with different vantage points and sites we don't normally see all the time. And I can't tell that your camera doesn't take good night photos because those Pixar Play Parade photos are great! What kind of camera did you use? You had a fantastic spot for the parade, too. But when we were at DLR in October, my friend was trying mightily to get just one decent nighttime photo of the character pumpkins over the turnstile entrance, and the Nikon Cool Pix she was using just could not get the job done. It was blurry no matter what she did, no matter how still she was. The only way around that would have been a tripod and there is no way my friend would be bothered with a tripod. I have a Canon SD880 which I am still trying to get used to, and I don't think I could get the good nighttime shots you got of the parade! I may have to look into a small, manageable tripod too because there are too many beautiful nighttime things to take photos of at DLR.

[kylieh]

Thanks for pics of your DD at Jedi Training. I showed my daughter and she is feeling "more confident" about trying it.

[Yakety76]

SherryE, Thank you so much. I think my family is pretty cute, but I am just a little bit biased. I love that picture of Riley with Tink. I do see that look from her a lot more now that she is a year older. :laughing:

I am not sure what cameras were used for the pictures. My camera disappeared out of my pocketbook in DCA on Veteran's Day, so all the pictures shown here were taking by my husband, my dad or the photopass photographers. I am glad we were using so many cameras, but I miss my pictures. I knew I wanted to do a trip report for this trip, so I was taking a lot of trip report specific pictures. I am glad you are liking the pictures I do have, though. :goodvibes

[Yakety76]

Thanks for pics of your DD at Jedi Training. I showed my daughter and she is feeling "more confident" about trying it.

You are welcome. Have her watch some youtube videos, too. The act is really scripted, so they will look very similar to what she will see there. If all else fails, she can just watch the other kids. Kaleb had a lot of fun just watching and felt no need to participate at all.

[laura&fam]

You are welcome. Have her watch some youtube videos, too. The act is really scripted, so they will look very similar to what she will see there. If all else fails, she can just watch the other kids. Kaleb had a lot of fun just watching and felt no need to participate at all.

That makes me feel better. I made signs and everything because my DS 5 is a huge Star Wars fan, but he had no desire whatsoever to get up in front of everyone. He did enjoy watching it though.

[letthembelittle]

I loved reading more about your trip! I think you convinced me to go to Jedi Camp when we go again in April!

[Yakety76]

I had done some checking and knew that the area schools had today off. This was a little bit of a surprise as our schools don’t get Veteran’s Day off. I also saw that the lowest annual pass was blacked out today. Disneyland opened at 8:00 today, so we knew they were expecting crowds. We had only a couple of items on our too do list and then we were going to bounce over to DCA for its opening.

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Our first stop was the Jungle Cruise. We hadn’t ridden this yet, so we wanted to do it right away. We had a fun skipper and we all enjoyed starting the day off with this ride.

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After we got off the boat, we asked for and received a copy of the Jungle Cruise map. It is now in a nice frame and hanging in my son’s room. :thumbsup2

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We made our way to Critter Country to ride Pooh yet again. My kids never get tired of this one. We stopped in the sweet shop and Riley spent a chunk of her birthday gift card. She got a Tiana lanyard pin, a Goofy pen for her preschool teacher and suckers for her preschool class. I got a measuring chart that lists all the rides the kids can ride once they reach a certain height. I have gone back and added in all their measurements from previous years. This is really nice and only $2. We also discovered our newest weakness…gingerbread Mickey cookies. Soooo good. Bob bought one and we devoured it so quickly that my dad had to get us another one to share. The kids loved eating the chocolate covered ears.

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After our sweets, we decided to ride Haunted Mansion. At first Kaleb wasn’t going to go back on with us. He still doesn’t like the stretching room. Riley gives him a pointer about how he can hide his head in my neck when Jack cackles and that has him ready to go ahead. He really does like the ride so I am glad he came on one more time. The ballroom is still my favorite. Love the gingerbread.

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Then it was onto Pirates. Kaleb didn’t want to ride, so he and I stood by Rivers of America and watched the ducks. By the time the family finished Pirates it was getting close to 9:30. I wanted to ride Toy Story today, so we headed over to DCA. They had just started letting guests through and we were able to get a good spot in order to make our dash for Toy Story. While we were waiting, I told Bob to go get fastpasses for Soarin. He comes back almost right away and tells me that the park isn’t open so he cannot get fastpasses. Now I know for sure he tunes me out when I start talking about DIS tips because I have told him many times that Soarin opens early. Well I told him once more that he could get fastpasses for Soarin’ before the park opens, so he headed off again. He came back with a somewhat sheepish face and let me know that I was right…as if there were any doubt.;)

There were quite a few people waiting, so I was nervous about how long the Toy Story line was going to be. We waited for the rope drop and began the walk. My dad is not a fast walker and we didn’t want to leave him behind, so we leisurely strolled towards our destination. Well, imagine my surprise when we only had about a 15 minute wait. Last Halloween we did the exact same thing except we really booked it towards Toy Story and we had about an hour wait. The line was against the railing by the lagoon. So I was really happy to get a manageable line this trip. The only down side was that we didn’t get to interact with Mr. Potato Head at all…and he was working this time.

My first ride on Toy Story had been pretty unremarkable. Kaleb had needed a lot of help with his shooter and I didn’t notice any of the special effects. Therefore, I didn’t really enjoy the ride all that much. This time was such a different experience. Kaleb wanted to ride with Bob and Riley wanted to ride with my mom. That left my dad and me to be partners. I started off by pulling the string and releasing it fully to shoot. Well, he was using a machine gun shooting style and was totally killing me in the points department. I am a quick learner, so I started machine gunning it too and soon caught up to his points. I started feeling the bursts of air when I made hits and even felt the water when I popped the water balloons. This was the best ride!! I had such a good time and I even beat my dad’s score.:banana:

Mom and Bob went to ride California Screamin while Dad and I took the kids on the carousel. Actually Dad just watched. The kids and I went on this a couple of times and there was still no sign of Mom and Bob. I called and they were just getting on. So…Dad and I ditched them. We went ahead to the Golden Zephyr. This was not my favorite ride. Riley was kind of bored by it too. Kaleb enjoyed himself, though. I think Dad took another Dramamine after this ride. Poor Guy.:laughing:

Riley and I went to ride Jumping Jellyfish next. I tried to get Kaleb interested in joining us, but that wasn’t happening. Mom and Bob had finished Screamin’ by now, so she took him over to the SS Rustworthy to run around. Next stop was Mulholland Madness. Bob and Dad took Kaleb to Bug’s Land while Mom and I went with Riley on Mulholland Madness. There was a decent wait- 15 to 20 minutes. Riley was excited to get another roller coaster under her belt, though. Riley and my mom hop in to their seats and it is not good. My mom’s knees are jammed up to the front. I have plenty of leg room in my seat…one of the perks of being 5’4”. Riley wanted to go again, but we told her “no”. My mom was so uncomfortable on this ride. I was fine and actually thought it was fun until the end. The sudden stops sent the bar right into my tummy. Ouch. All in all, I was not overly impressed with Paradise Pier. California Screamin and Toy Story are great, but the others were nothing too special- to me anyway.

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We are now ready to head over to Bug’s Land and meet up with the boys. We met them in line for Heimlich and waited about 10 minutes. That’s right…10 minutes for Heimlich. It was pretty obvious the Veteran’s Day crowds were upon us. We then waited another 10 minutes or so for the bumper cars and then it was lunch time.
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We had a 12:00 PS for Wine Country Trattoria. We chose to sit outside and were seated right away. Bob ordered the Chicken Alfredo Lasagna. This was so yummy. My dad ordered the Meatball Sandwich. He enjoyed this. I ordered the Pizzeta Salad. I liked this, but thought it would have been better with more of the Kalamata olives. The kids split the children’s meatball sandwich and had some of my salad. I don’t remember what my mom ordered. This was the best meal of the trip. The atmosphere was so relaxed and the food was really good. I ordered the orange sorbet for dessert. Yummmy. Bob ordered some kind of chocolate dessert that was heavenly. I don’t remember what it was, but it was the best. While we were there, Bob was walking by the bar area and saw a waitress accidently pour a full glass of beer on a little kid. Can you imagine? That poor kid. I am sure the staff took care of the situation to the best of their ability, but that would be pretty bad.

After lunch, we went to check out the Animation Building. Riley and I went into the Animation Academy and drew Minnie. This was so much fun and really pretty easy to do. Riley’s Minnie actually turned out pretty good- considering. She really liked this, so I am glad we did it.

We all split up a lot today, so I am not exactly sure what all we did. I know that Riley rode Tower of Terror- which she loved. Kaleb rode Monsters with someone and we saw lots of characters.
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This was the best character interaction. Peek a boo. Where is Riley?!:laughing:

Mom and Kaleb also waited in line to see Playhouse Disney Live. I had never seen it, so I took my mom’s place with Kaleb as she had watched this our last visit. During this time is when my camera went missing. I had it in the Animation Academy with Riley because I took a picture of her with her drawing. I had it in Off the Page because I took a picture of a Jack Skellington display that was really cool. I walked over to the Playhouse Disney line, went inside, opened my pocketbook and my camera was gone. I checked outside where the line was and there was no sign of a camera. I asked the CMs and they hadn’t been given a camera. Bob went to the Animation Building and Off the Page and there were no cameras there. Anyway, Kaleb enjoyed the show. I was in a funk because of the lost camera. I tried to be normal for his sake, but I was just not feeling it.

After this Riley wanted to go on Monsters. The line was 30 minutes long. We got in line, but then I decided we would just do it tomorrow when there would be no line. Meltdown moment for Riley. She didn’t want to wait until tomorrow, but it was pretty obvious that we all needed a break. Mom and Dad stayed and played. Bob and I took the kids back to the hotel. They played with their clay and their color wonder markers until dinner time. I didn’t want to take the kids out again, so we ordered in pizza. They messed up the order, but it was fine. We ate and then Bob and I put our shoes back on to go back to DL and brave the Veteran’s Day crowds. :scared1:

[Yakety76]

That makes me feel better. I made signs and everything because my DS 5 is a huge Star Wars fan, but he had no desire whatsoever to get up in front of everyone. He did enjoy watching it though.

I am glad he enjoyed watching. I think it could be rather intimidating to get up there. Maybe next time he will want to do it now that he has seen it.

I loved reading more about your trip! I think you convinced me to go to Jedi Camp when we go again in April!

You should go. It is so much fun. I don't think most kids need to participate to have a good time because it really is very entertaining. Of course if you get your DISigns signs ready, you should have a good shot of being chosen. :woohoo:

[deejdigsdis]

Yay for an update! These are some great pics. Sorry to hear about your camera. Did you ever check back later, or at lost and found? That would just make me sick to lose my camera.

So...I know the "official" Holiday season didn't start until the 13th, but it looks like you got to see a lot of it. Did they have the Christmas lights on at night while you were there, or did they wait until the 13th?

And how did you find out about school closures? We were originally planning on going the Mon., Tues., and Wed. before Thanksgiving, thinking we'd beat the crowds, but a friend in San Diego warned us that a lot of the schools have the ENTIRE Thanksgiving week off. So we changed our plans and were so glad we did.

[Yakety76]

It was fun to see new decorations up every morning. We didn't get to see the park in full holiday mode, but we did see quite a bit. The castle wasn't lit up with the holiday lights at night. I do think the Christmas tree was though.

We did check with Lost and Found- quite a few times. We also filled out the form they have. They told us that things are usually turned in, but ours never showed up. The crowd on Veteran's Day was very young. I haven't seen that many sorority and fraternity shirts since I was in college. :laughing: Anyway, I think that maybe whoever found it didn't think about how much the pictures would mean to us. I could care less about the camera. I just want my pictures.:sad2:

To find out about the school closures I did a search for Anaheim schools and then went on each school districts website to view their calendar. I am sure there is an easier way, but that is what I did.

[Yakety76]

Bob and I headed back into the parks. We headed over to DCA first to ride Screamin in the dark. That was something we had never done before and we enjoyed it. We also rode ToT. Bob was a little bummed that I had already ridden it with Mom early this week. He wanted to go with me my first time. I really, REALLY like that ride. Which is funny because I didn’t think I would like it at all. We used Fastpasses for both of these and didn’t have a wait at all. We also stopped to take a lot of Photopass pictures. However, most of them are blurry. Kind of bummed about that one.

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Next we headed to DL. The line wasn’t too bad to get in, but we did have a little bit of a scare. My hand had been stamped when we left DL early this morning. I didn’t get a hand stamp at DCA when we left. Well, the guy checking stamps said he couldn’t see my stamp and didn’t want to let me in. I pointed out where I could see the stamp and he said he would let me slide. Lesson learned. Get your hand stamped each time you leave. No matter what.

Bob and I didn’t have a lot that we wanted to accomplish tonight, so we just kind of wandered around.
We went to the art gallery that had recently opened. It used to be a bank and they kept many of the bank items as décor. It is a really neat shop. We then wandered through some of the other shops. We didn’t buy anything because we didn’t want to carry the packages around with us.

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We ended up walking back by the Golden Horseshoe where I noticed a pretzel vendor. I had always wanted to eat a Mickey head pretzel, so we picked up one of those and some cheese. We found a bench and relaxed.

After our snack we used our Fastpasses to ride Indy. I wasn’t really wanting to ride anymore rides, so we decided to eat some more.:laughing: We went to Carnation Café and were able to get seated right away. We ordered coffee and beignets. It was fun to just relax and be together and not be rushing to and fro.

After we finished our treat, we decided to stake out a spot for Fantasmic! It was right around 8:00 by this time. The crowds were horrible. We decided to use the light tower trick- which is no big secret anymore. The CMs were telling anyone who would listen to stand behind the light tower. We were able to get a spot right against the rail and were soon joined by some families. I put my head down and rested while we waited for the show. While I was resting, the crowds swarmed around us. They were packed about 5 people deep behind us. About five or ten minutes before the show was to start a mom comes through the crowd behind us and asks those of us by the rail if her son can stand there with us. No one said anything and so she pushed him into place. The kid standing by Bob turned around and accidently hit the kid, who then fell into Bob. There just wasn’t enough room for him to be there. I told the mom this and she went off on me. The other people who had been waiting with us had a large stroller that was taking a lot of space and she said we should move it. I tried to politely explain that we had all been waiting for an hour. She couldn’t come in last minute and expect a good spot. The other moms thanked me, but I would really have rather not have had to defend my place that I had been saving for an hour.
Fantasmic! starts and I am loving it. It is really amazing. There is a part where the view of Mickey is obstructed by the light post, though. It is where he shoots the fire, so I really wanted to see it. I put my head on Bob’s shoulder so I could get a better view. I didn’t move my body- just my head. The lady behind me taps me on my shoulder and asks me to move my head. Are you kidding me??!! I start to say something and decide to take the high road. I move my head away from my husband’s shoulder and back into its proper viewing place. :rolleyes1

I loved Fantasmic! and would gladly see it again. However, I would either stake out a sitting spot (like Bob and my parents did our first night) or pay for the reserved seating. I was amazed at how people could arrive last minute and then be upset that they couldn’t see. I totally get wanting to let your child see the show- that is why I told my parents and Bob exactly how early they needed to stake out their spot on Sunday. Anyway, I loved the show.
After watching Fantasmic!, we waited for the crowds to clear and then made our way back to HOJO. I was done with battling the crowds and just wanted to sleep.

We stopped for some pictures by the tree.

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Tomorrow is our last day in the park. Stay tuned for how our trip ends.

[Sherry E]

I am so sorry about your camera disappearing at DLR (even though you had back-up photos from other sources). That would have bummed me out for the entire trip! I have always loved taking photos from an early age and they mean a lot to me because they are more than just images on paper. They are memories. They literally capture moments in time that, later on in life, will bring a smile to someone's face during a difficult time in life, or they will jog someone's memory of what happened on a particular trip, or they can be used for all sorts of homemade projects like collages or photo books. Anyone I have ever made photo gifts for has loved them. There is something so special about sharing photos with people you love and just laughing and remembering. (Right now, I have a whole bunch of Friends on Facebook who are clamoring for me to post some old photos but I have to get my scanner to cooperate!) The camera itself could be replaced, but you may have had a particular shot where Riley was doing an unusual thing or Kaleb had an extra cute grin (cuter than normal - he is pretty adorable!!), and to think that some stranger walked off with those memories and didn't AT LEAST turn in the memory card to Lost and Found (even if they wanted to keep the camera) is just a shame.

Like you, I have also discovered that the Mickey gingerbread men are a weakness of mine too, and last year was my first taste of them. They are hefty cookies, soft and chewy and delicious. I had a craving for them again this year, so I am corssing my fingers I will be able to get back there to eat some. I think they may actually be sold year-round at some places in DLR, but I feel like I need to eat them during the holidays!

Great picture in front ot the Haunted Mansion Holiday - with virtually NO people! That is one of the most uncluttered photos I have seen in front of that ride. I love it! Perfect timing you guys had - to get there before the masses piled into the line. Now if ony I could get a nice, uncluttered shot like that in front of It's A Small World Holiday at night (next to impossible because of the crowds), life would be peachy!

We had great luck using the early line-up for TSMM last year, like you did on this trip. There was almost no one in the actual TSMM line by the time we walked up to it, and there were tons of people in line when we got off the ride. I would definitely go that route again because I LOVE that ride. I am so awful at scoring on Buzz Lightyear, but I see great improvement in my scores on TSMM!

Oh, and fantastic photos with Sulley and of you and Bob in front of the Christmas tree!!

[letthembelittle]

You two are super cute! I wish we would have taken more pictures of just us while we were there, guess we will try to in April. We watched Fantasmic that night, too (but it was the second show not the first one like you guys)!

[Yakety76]

B]SherryE[/B], Your points about the missing camera are exactly why it was so hard to lose it. Thanks for understanding :hug:. I have scrapbooks for the kids filled with all the fun things we do- including our trips to Disney. I love that they will be able to look back at these and know what kinds of things we did when they were little, even if they cannot remember everything. I take a lot of pictures of the kids, so I always get some really great pictures. I am not a good photographer by any means, but I do get lucky a lot. I also went into this trip specifically taking pictures to include in my trip report. I had a lot of food porn and the little details that we all like to look at in other's reports so much. I wish I had followed the advice of other DISers and downloaded my pictures to Bob's laptop each night, but I didn't. All I can do now is be thankful that my dad and Bob both had their cameras and took as many pictures as they did.


The gingerbread Mickeys are sooo good and I am not even a real fan of gingerbread. I would love to have some right now!!

Disneyland was pretty dead at 8:00 that morning, but it filled up quickly. I do like the picture in front of the HMH, though. It is fun to get those kind of pictures!! It is especially memorable for us since Riley and Kaleb are going through such a Nightmare Before Christmas phase.

It is amazing how quickly the TSMM line grows, but after this year I now know why. That is the best ride. I still do really like Buzz, though. You just need to start going on those rides with kids and then your score looks fabulous. :rotfl:
Thanks for reading along! I haven't seen an update on your TR. Have you planned a date to go?

[Yakety76]

Letthembelittle, You were smart to wait for the second show. That had been our plan, but I pooped out. The lack of sleep was starting to get to me. I am still really glad I got to see it, though.
I love having the pictures of Bob and I from Disney. It is the only times we get pictures of just the two of us and I really do like doing it.

[Yakety76]

This is not a real update, but it is still fun. We took the kids and my parents to the Princess and the Frog movie yesterday. We used the free children's admission coupons we got from being in the park in November.

We all LOVED this movie. It was Kaleb's first time in a movie theater and he sat through the whole movie :banana: There were some scary parts, but my kids didn't really understand them enough to be scared. It actually might be scarier for older kids who are able to get some of the references.

The music was fabulous. We have been listening to the soundtrack non-stop since we got home from the theater. It really makes me want to watch the Tiana's Jubilee parade again. Youtube here I come.

We didn't ever time it right to do the meet and greet with Tiana, but Bob did get to meet her in her frog form.

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[travelmel]

And that is the end of day 1. It was a very long day, but we had a great time. We had been worried about the Christmas parade filming, but the crowds were not bad at all.

I am so late to this party! I can't remember everything I wanted to say about the first few entries in this TR BUT I will say... while your daughter is really cute and so very and princess perfect (though I know that is not her only desire) YOUR SON IS SO STINKING CUTE! OME His smile just lights my heart up, I kid you not. SO CUTE. He's always hugging her and smiling that big smile! SO CUTE! I just wanna eat him up! LOL

Ok, somebody needs another baby (me). My two girls are getting TOO OLD. I love 'em, oh yes and I'm glad all those diapers and all that crying stuff is over...well, some of it is just starting actually, but anyway... yea, I want another baby! But I want a boy. There are no guarantee's though! Oh well, I can't take that sort of risk. I'll just live vicariously through cute pics of strangers children at Disney. Thank you for that. :lmao:

We absolutely loved the Redwood Creek area. The kids (and I) had a great time climbing along the netting and exploring everything. It is a great place to bring the kids to let them run around. I thought it was more for older kids because of the height requirements, but that isn't the case. Anybody who likes to run and climb will enjoy it.


Love that area.. I'm glad you had time to explore it :goodvibes


It is really hard to find young girls’ shirts that aren’t princess at Disney. :confused3 She really wants a Sally shirt. Right now she makes do with wearing a women’s XS Sally shirt as a nightgown.

And I bet it's cute, too!

It was fun to see new decorations up every morning. We didn't get to see the park in full holiday mode, but we did see quite a bit. The castle wasn't lit up with the holiday lights at night. I do think the Christmas tree was though.

We did check with Lost and Found- quite a few times. We also filled out the form they have. They told us that things are usually turned in, but ours never showed up. The crowd on Veteran's Day was very young. I haven't seen that many sorority and fraternity shirts since I was in college. :laughing: Anyway, I think that maybe whoever found it didn't think about how much the pictures would mean to us. I could care less about the camera. I just want my pictures.:sad2:

To find out about the school closures I did a search for Anaheim schools and then went on each school districts website to view their calendar. I am sure there is an easier way, but that is what I did.

SO SAD! I totally understand. That just stinks. You sure managed to have some magnificent shots just from Photopass and extraneous (family) sources. You're lucky with that!

Anyway, your pic of you and your DH under the tree was amazing. You guys look like kids in a candy store. Also, the pics of Sully and of course the Jedi training pic with tink in the corner was AWESOME! :thumbsup2 You totally rocked this trip.

Again I really enjoy your families TR's and I'm glad you had another great time
I am so sorry about your camera disappearing at DLR (even though you had back-up photos from other sources). That would have bummed me out for the entire trip! I have always loved taking photos from an early age and they mean a lot to me because they are more than just images on paper. They are memories. They literally capture moments in time that, later on in life, will bring a smile to someone's face during a difficult time in life, or they will jog someone's memory of what happened on a particular trip, or they can be used for all sorts of homemade projects like collages or photo books. Anyone I have ever made photo gifts for has loved them. There is something so special about sharing photos with people you love and just laughing and remembering. (Right now, I have a whole bunch of Friends on Facebook who are clamoring for me to post some old photos but I have to get my scanner to cooperate!) The camera itself could be replaced, but you may have had a particular shot where Riley was doing an unusual thing or Kaleb had an extra cute grin (cuter than normal - he is pretty adorable!!), and to think that some stranger walked off with those memories and didn't AT LEAST turn in the memory card to Lost and Found (even if they wanted to keep the camera) is just a shame.


Good point Sherry... I wonder if a person should actually mark their memory card somehow... maybe too boy scout?